Portable electric light.



C. WACHTEL. PORTABLE ELECTRIC LIGHT.

APPLICATION FILED MAYZI, I9l4.

Patented NOV. 28, 1916.

erase CHARLES 'WACI-ITEL, OlF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 INTERSTATE EJCTIELIC qtIl0`iE11|tY CO., OF NEW YORK, N'. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PJRJTABLE ELECTRIC LIGHT.

Specification of Letters Patent. i' lpgmtmtgtgqll Nwe. 2%, jlliilt,

Application led May 21, 1914:. Serial No. @395936.

To all whom t may concer/h Be it known that l, CHAnLEs YVACHTEL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State oiyliew York, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Portable Electric Lights, of'which the following is a specification.

The invention pertains more particularly to improvements in the class'otl electric lamps designed to be held in the hand and sometimes used as flash lights and at other times for affording a permanent light for a i short period, and the object'of the invention y is to provide a novel and eflicient construction of lamp of the class referred to, the novelty residing, in part, in a new arrangement of those portions of the lamp through which the circuit is made for lighting the same and in the new circuit closer mechanism and. in the manner of securing the reflector for the lamp.

The invention will be fully understood from the 'detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accom panying' drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a, portable electric light embodying my invention; Fig. 2 'is a central vertical section on a larger scale of the same; Fig. 3 is a corresponding section, partly broken away and' on an enn larged scale, through the upper end portion of the electric light; Fig. 4- is an enlarged horizontal section, partly broken away, through the light taken on the dotted line nl--lof F l, and F ig. 5 is a side elevation,i partly broken away, of the central portion of the exterior casing of the light, with the circuit-closer or switch omitted, this figure being presented to illustrate the manner'of exposingl the two circuit conductors at their adjoining ends so that thc circuit closer :hen manually operated may connectsaid ends for completing the circuit through the lamp. v

in the drawings designates a paper or fiber casing 'for the flash light, 11 the battery thereinr` 1Q the lens, 13 the electric lamp bulb, l-L the reflector, the usual connection of the battery. with the lamp, and 16 theJ usual electrical conductor connection between the lower metallic cap 17 and the lower terminal of the battery 11, The cas-. ing 10 is yequipped With two conductors or strips of metal 18, 19, the lower end of the .of the electric circuit.

conductor 19 being in electrical connection with the metal cap 17, as usual, and which cap is ordinarily screwed upon a metal sleeve fastened around the .lower end of the casing 10. The upper end of the conductor 18 is in electrical connection with the re-A receive and engage the exterior surface of the said reflector 1l. rll'he upper edge of the reflector lft is flanged outwardly and may rest upon the upper edge of the non-cone ducting casing 10, and over the upper edge of the reflector 1t and resting thereon is the lens 12, said lens being secured as usual by means of an upper threaded cap 21, secured upon the upper end of the casing 10 and having an inwardly turned annular flange Q2 which engages the upper edge portions of the lens 12 and serves as a clamping means for binding the lens firmly upon the reflector 14.

Ordinarily, in tlash lights as heretofore used, there has been an electrical connection between the cap f2.1 and conductor 18, but in this instance and as a part of my invention there is no electrical connection between the cap 21 and conductor 1S, and it may be seen on reference to Fig. 3 'that the upper end of the conductor 18 is bent in wardly and secured by solderin or the like -to the band Q0, and that there ore the circuit from the battery and lamp to the con ductor 1S will be through the reflector 14. and band ,20, the cap 21 being entirely out rdinarily the rehector lt has been in. electrical connection with the cap holding the lens, but in this instance it is to be observed that the upper end of the reflector is separated from the cap 21, said cap being at the outer side .of the casing 10 and the flange thereof be ing carried outwardly in the horizontal plane 0f the upper edge of the casing 10 and tllen upwardly and inwardly to engage the lens 12. 'l p The casing 10 is preferably formed from a spirally wound sheet of liber, and the conductors 18, 19 in one continuous piece are wound within said sheet during the formation of the tube or casing 10, and thereafter a il-shaped recess 23 is formed in the' ex'- /terior Wall of the casing 10 and extended through the metal strip intended to form the conductors 18, 19, as illustrated in Fig. 5. The formation of said recess 23 and extending it through the metal strip serves to., sever said strip and leave the adjacent ends ofthe sections thereof, said sections forming the conductors 18, 19, separated from each other by a narrow space and exposed atthe Walls of the recess to be engaged by the circuit closer, which at the proper time is utilized for placing said exposed ends of the conductors 18, 19 into electrical connection with each' other, thereby to complete the circuit through the lamp. The lower end of the conductor 19 is placed in electrical connection with the cap 17 and the sleeve on which said cap is screwed in the customary way by means of an eyelet or rivet 24. The upper end of the conductor 18 becomes exposed by recessing the casing 10, as at 25, in line with said conductor and then bending the upper end of the conductor inwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, to be fastened to the band 20.

The circuit closer or lswitch mechanism comprises the transverse casing 26 riveted tothe shell or casing 1J and' forming therein a chamber 27 for the leaf spring 28, said .spring 28 having secured to it a buttonhead 29, and said casing 26 being provided with la slot 30 in which the shank of the buttonhead 29 may be manually moved and the ends of which slot limit the movement of the buttonhead 29 and the spring 28 connected therewith. The `spring 28 bears at both ends against the casing 1Q, and one end of said spring is curved on convex lines, as at 31, to ride smoothlyr against the surn face of the casing 10, an the other end of said spring 28 is formed with a longitudinal V-shaped portion 432 forming therein an approximately V-shaped recess 33, as Shown in Fig. 2.- The V-shaped portion 32 ofthe spring 28 is the part of said spring provided for electrically connecting at the proper time the adjacent ends of the con- -ductors 18, 19, and said portion 32 of said spring is adapted for movement in the recess 23 of the casing 10 and of lying against and connecting the exposed adjacent ends of the conductors 18, 19 at the base of said recess, the apex of the being adapted to form an eiiicient electrical connection between the conductors 18, 19 and rendering it unnecessary to bend the ends of said conductors outwardly. Then the spring 28 is in one position with the buttonhead 29 at one end of the slot 30, as shown in Fig. 4, the spring circuit closer 28 will have its end 32 so positioned that it cannot engage the adjacent ends of the conductors 18, 19 and at such time the lamp 13 will be dar and their will be no circuit" through thel lamp andbattery. When the button head 29 is pushed to the other end of the slot 30 it moves the spring 28 until the V- shaped end 32 thereof is between and in cnglagement with the adjacent ends of the conuctors 18, 19, and at such time the circuit will be completed fromthe lower end of the battery through the conductor 1G, cap 17, conductor 19, spring circuit closer 28, conductor 18, band 20, refiector 14 and lamp socket'to the upper end of the battery.

Ordinarily it has been customary in the construction of flash lights oi' the character in question to rivet the casing of the circuit closer spring to a. conductor corresponding with 19 and have one end of the circuit closer spring in electrical connection with its casing, and in this way said casing was always in electrical connection with the lower exposed cap 17; and it was also customary to connect the upper end of a conductor corresponding with 18 with the cap 21, with which the reiiector for the lamp was in electrical connection, and under these circumstances it is plain that a metal tool, such as a screw driver lying against the circuit closer casing and upper cap or against the lower cap and upper cap or' the iiash light, would make the circuit and result 'in the battery being unnecessarily consumed.

. It will be observed that in accordance with my invention the circuit closer casing is not riveted to or in electrical connection with either of the conductors 18, 19, and therefore that there is no normal electrical connection between said casing and the lower cap 17. The upper cap 21 is not at any time in circuit, and hence the flash light as a whole may be placed in a tool box or with any metal articles without danger of the circuit being accidentally made by the contact of thel iiash light with the blade of a tool or the like.

W'hat 1 claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A portable electric light of the class described comprising an exterior casing containing a. battery and having at its upper end an electric lamp in electrical connection with said battery, circuit terminal conductors extending along said casing normally separated from each other at adjacent ends and one of which is in electrical connection with the lamp and the other with the bat tery, and circuit closin means for electrically connecting the a jacent ends of said terminal conductors comprising a closer-casing on the exterior main casing and insulated from both said terminal conductors and a conductor therein adapted on being moved for the purpose to engage said ends of the terminal conductors, saidterminal conductors being embedded within the material o1" said main casing and said main casin being recessed at the adjacent ends of said conductors and thereat exposing said ends to be engaged by the circuit clor conductor.

2. A portable electric light of theclass dewith said battery, circuit terminal conduc- 'tors extending along said casing normally separated from each other at adjacent ends and one of which is in electrical connection with the lamp and the other with the battery, and circuit closing means for electrically connecting the adjacent ends of said terminal conductors comprising a closer-casing on the exterior m-ain casing and insulated from both said terminal conductors and a conductor therein adapted on being moved for the purpose to engage said ends of the terminal conductors, said terminal conductors being embedded within the material of said main casing and said main casing having an approximately V-shaped recess at the adjacent ends of said conductors and thereat exposing said ends to be engaged by the circuit closer conductor, which has an approximately ll-shaped portion adapted to said rei cess.

3. ln a portable flash light of the cluarac-A @epica of tibia patent may be obtained for vfive cents each, by Washington, D. C.

ter described a casing containing a battery and an electric lamp, circuit closing means comprising circuit terminal conductors eX- tending along said casing in line with each other and normally separated from Ieach other at adjacent ends, an escutclieon on the exterior oflsaid casing and insulated from both said conductors and a manually operar tive conductor adapted on being moved for the purpose to engage and electrically connect said ends of said terminal conductors, said terminal conductors being embedded within the material of said casing and said' casing being recessed at the adjacent ends 40 of said terminal conductors and thereat exposingsaid ends, and said manually operative conductor being aspring associated with an exposed slide mounted on said escutcheon.

Signed at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings if andl State of New York, this 19th day of May, A. D. 1914.

p CHARLES WACHTEL. Witnesses:

- ARTHUR MARION, CHAs. C. Gmb.

addressing the "Commissioner o1' Intenta, 

